Reminiscence
by Seraphic Melody
Summary: Staring at her with a pensive gleam in his eyes, the king could remember his first days with Vivaldi. Vivaldi x King


**Reminiscence**

**Vivaldi x King**

It was strange to think about it, contemplate exactly how much time had gone by. Of course, his memory was not what anyone would consider perfect, but there were certain ones that were etched into his mind.

The king could not remember a time without the Queen of Hearts.

Sitting by the regal, dark-haired beauty somehow made him feel nostalgic. It was amazing to realize how much she had changed. Now she was the epitome of grace and elegance, so different from her original, demure child self.

The king released a wistful sigh.

Staring at her with a pensive gleam in his eyes, the king could remember his first days with Vivaldi.

~{o}~

The loss of the Queen of Hearts was an initial shock to everyone, but was quickly pushed to the very recesses of everyone's mind, especially at the arrival of their newest queen. Vivaldi.

She was only a mere child when she first arrived to the castle – a lovely, demure young lady forced to join an adult's violent game.

Upon countless occasions, the king tried to reach out to the young girl and make her feel more comfortable in her new home. It was just a friendly gesture, nothing more and nothing less. Each time he attempted to even approach her, her face would blaze into a bright crimson, bury her head into her stuffed bear, and run off.

'_Odd, little girl…_' Whatever could be the matter? Did he appear like a frightening man? Did he scare her? If not… then what could it be? '_Her behavior is so strange._'

"No!" The king's train of thought faltered when he heard a loud, desperate cry.

He turned his gaze towards the source of the noise. A small delicate figure struggled to keep pace with the long, unrelenting stride of the maid. Watery tears cascaded down her flushed cheeks as she cried incoherently, "No! M… my… my bear!"

The stuffed animal's neck was crushed underneath the maid's arm, nearly detaching its head from its body. The maid scolded her, "You're not a child anymore. You're our new queen. Queens _do not_ carry around silly stuffed animals wherever they go. It's unbecoming, if not preposterous."

Her lovely, violet eyes suddenly became glassy, pooling with a fresh batch of tears. "B… but… but…"

"Well, what's going on here?" The two figures froze in their place, slowly turning their gazes towards the source of the voice.

The maid nearly dropped the bear to the floor, holding it nervously between her figures. "Yo… your majesty! N… nothing's going on here! Why do you ask?"

The maid barely suppressed an uneasy squeak, intimidated by the young king's curious scrutiny.

"Really?" He glanced down, locking onto a pair of amethyst. The young girl froze in her place, her shoulders rigid as she meekly dropped her gaze to the floor. He then directed his attention to the maid. "Well, it doesn't look like nothing. Isn't that her grace's bear right there?"

The maid blurted out, "Yes, but I took it because it was so silly and childish-"

"Can I please have it?" The faceless maid merely gaped at her superior with an air of confusion. The king repeated kindly, "Can I please have it? You're wasting valuable time carrying that thing around. You have more important things to tend to, you know."

The female servant wasted no time in complying, shoving the stuffed animal into his hands and darting off. He chuckled at her jumpy behavior and turned towards little Vivaldi. Her eyes were directed downcast, and her face was still glistening with tears.

"Here." Her head snapped up; the bear was suspended mere inches before her face. She glanced passed her stuffed animal and looked at the king. To her surprise, a bright smile was spread over his lips, his expression so kind and gentle. "There's nothing for you to be ashamed about. It's okay to love your bear. There's nothing wrong with loving something so much that it hurts."

Pink blossoms arose from her pale cheeks as she timidly took the stuffed animal into her arms. The king then turned on his heels and began to walk away.

"T… thank you."

He suddenly turned around. The king's grin widened, pleased to have finally heard her voice. The girl winced, resisting the automatic reflex to hide her face behind the bear. The little girl hastily wiped the tears from her face and met his gaze dead-on. She meekly asked, "I… is there anyone th… that you love that way?"

The king pondered that question briefly. The answer was obvious. Even though he had only begun seeing her, a faceless woman, the king already knew that he loved her with his whole heart.

"There's actually a lot of people I love and care for. You're one of them. After all, we are king and queen. We have to stick together!"

Vivaldi's pink face deepened into a flaming maroon. Such a sight incited a hearty laughter. Even if he had no idea why she did that, he always found it so endearing! He playfully ruffled her hair. "Now don't you forget that!"

Vivaldi's lips curved into a small grin and nodded her head.

~{o}~

The king had no idea how much time had passed ever since their initial breakthrough. Perhaps it was only weeks, months even?

All he knew was that he never ran so fast in his life.

"Vivaldi!" Only silence answered him. He continued running in the hallways, following the incoming bend around the hall. Then he finally found her. In a breathy voice, he called for her once more. "Vivaldi."

The young queen slowly turned her head. She had grown much since she first came here. She grew a little taller, beginning to blossom into the beautiful young woman he knew she was going to be. Her long, ebony locks were pulled up into regal curls.

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Vivaldi, please. You have to call it off before it's too late!" pleaded the king, exasperation evident in his voice.

Her expression hardened as she spoke, "It's Our first decree as queen. It wouldn't look right if We don't follow through with it."

He shouted, "But this execution is pointless! The only person who will get hurt in the end is me!"

A light flickered behind her narrowed violet eyes, flashing far too quickly for him to properly identify. "She's just another faceless girl. Nothing important. She's disposable."

"Not to me! Vivaldi, please don't do this. I don't want to lose her…"

Then everything melted into a tense silence. The Queen of Hearts stared at the king, studying the near desperation in his eyes. Her jaws locked. Her palms balled into angry fists.

"Why? Why do you care so much about some insignificant faceless girl? _Why why why why __**why**?_"

She then stormed forward and smashed her dainty fist into his chest. The king remained perfectly still, watching as the queen persisted to pound her fists into his chest. The strength of each punch began to weaken and diminish before it stopped altogether. By then, Vivaldi dropped her head into his chest and broke down into a sob. She refused to lift her head to face him, abashed by her ridiculous, petty behavior.

She never expected to feel a comforting warmth to envelop her body.

"There's no reason for you to be ashamed," the king softly crooned. "I understand."

She sniffled once and turned a watery orb towards him. "You… you do?"

"Of course! You're jealous, aren't you?" She blinked once, regarding the cheerful man with palpable surprise. "Yes! I knew it! Don't worry though. You could never be replaced. You both share an equal place in my heart!"

Vivaldi then fell completely still, her countenance unreadable. She felt her own heart slow to a desolate rumble.

"Now I don't want to lose that all important piece. It would kill me inside if I did."

The dark-haired queen dropped her gaze, mumbling quietly under her breath, "You love something so much that it hurts..."

"Exactly! You finally understand! Will you please call it off now? For me?"

He expected his words to release the tension between them, bring back that smile to her face. Instead, her reaction was something he surely did not expect. She gently pushed herself out of his embrace and took a step back. For the first few moments, she appeared even more melancholy, her eyes pooling with silver tears.

She then quickly composed herself. She wiped her face of errant liquids and straightened her posture. She coolly said, "Yes… under one condition. You cannot – We repeat – _cannot_ see this girl again as long as you are king. If you don't comply with that simple condition, We will not hesitate to cut her head off. Can we agree on that?" The king sighed in relief and nodded his head. "Good. Now if you excuse Us, We must see to it that the guards release her."

The king then watched the dark-haired girl curtly turn around and storm off. Even though he was grateful that she agreed to stop the execution, a certain question haunted his mind.

Why did Vivaldi look like that? What had he said? What did he do?

Perhaps he was too busy to notice, too preoccupied by the sudden sensation of relief to see the answer right before him.

As Vivaldi began to disappear from his line of vision, vanish behind the hallway's bend, her shoulders began to droop, her composed front splintering ever so slightly.

Unbeknownst to the king, Vivaldi secretly thought that once that girl was gone, she wanted to be the one to help make his heart whole.

~{o}~

"Why do you have such a silly look on your face?"

The king snapped himself out of his dreamy reverie, noticing the present Vivaldi staring right back at him. Her violet eyes were generally inexpressive, alight with only slight inquisitiveness.

He merely laughed at himself and replied, "Oh, I was only reminiscing, that's all!"

A dark brow quirked up in question. "About what?"

The king cheerfully replied, "You!"

Her composed features splintered with surprise; she nearly fell out of her seat at such a pronouncement. "Eh?"

"Yeah... I was just thinking about how much you changed since I first met you. You truly grew up to be a beautiful, confident Queen of Hearts. I'm glad I got this chance to get to know you!"

At first, she merely regarded the man in disbelief, wondering if he was kidding around or suddenly admitting to lunacy. His smiling face did not waver, still so sincere and genuine.

Flushing into a million shades of red, Vivaldi quickly stood up and declared, "We will be having Our afternoon tea now. If you'd like some, you're free to join Us."

The king released a tired sigh, watching her retreat towards the doorway. Out of all the years he had known her, he could never understand one thing.

'_Why does she blush like that?_' Though now those moments have waned and diminished to only a few, rare occasions, it still never ceased to baffle him.

Oh well. The king figured that it mustn't be that important.

As Vivaldi opened the door and took a step passed the threshold, she glanced back. Her amethysts locked onto his eyes, holding each other's gaze for a moment.

In that split second, he saw the queen's visage soften ever so slightly, a light smile playing on her lips. In that split second, he could still see the young girl he met long ago as well as the independent woman she was now.

She then tore her gaze away and closed the door behind her.

The king couldn't help, but continue smiling. No matter how old she was, what she did, or how much time had passed, there would always be a special place in his heart reserved just for her. Whether for better or for worse, he would always remember every moment he spent with Vivaldi.

* * *

A/N Notes: *facepalm* Come on, king? Why are you so oblivious? TAKE HER ALREADY!

Haha! I don't know. I like writing about these two. It's fun for me. xD

Thanks for reading~


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